Animal Farm vs. Marxism

In George Orwell’s Animal Farm, the animals and events can be compared to similar people and events during the Russian Revolution of 1917. These similarities stand out due to the symbolism found in the book and the reality of the happenings of the Russian Revolution. Old Major was a prized-boar that belonged to Farmer Jones.The fact that Old Major is himself a boar was to signify that radical change and revolution are, themselves, boring in the eyes of the lower class(represented by the other barnyard animals), who are more prone to worrying about work and survival in their everyday life.Old Major gave many speeches to the farm animals about hope and the future.He is the main animal who got the rebellion started even though he died before it actually began.Old Major’s role compares to Lenin and Marx whose ideas were to lead to the communist revolution. “Animal Farm is a criticism of Karl Marx, as well as a novel perpetuating his convictions of democratic Socialism.”(Zwerdling, 20).Lenin became leader and teacher of the working class in Russia, and their determination to struggle against capitalism. Like Old Major, Lenin and Marx wrote essays and gave speeches to the working class poor.The working class in Russia, as compared with the barnyard animals in Animal Farm, was a laboring class of people that received low wages for their work. “Like the animals in the farm yard, the people is Russia thought there would be no oppression in a new society because the working class people (or animals) would own all the riches and hold all the power.” (Golubeva and Gellerstein 168). Another character represented in the book is Farmer Jones.He represents the symbol of the Czar Nicholas in Russia who treated his people like Farmer Jones treated his animals.The animal rebellion on the farm was started because Farmer Jones was a drunk who never took care of the animals and who came home one night, left the gate open and the…